Friday 1st August
Iona was fabulous and we were delighted we waited til Monday as the day dawned sunny and calm. We arrived early and climbed to the top of the hill before going down to the Abbey. It has a very special feel and is certainly somewhere we will return to. Leaving there late morning we sailed to Ariganour, Coll, past Staffa and the Treshnish Islands which are extraordinary shapes. Biked across to the west coast and were rewarded by seeing a couple of basking sharks. Tried to stock up on food but the shop gets restocked on a Wednesday so Tuesday is a bad day - no milk, no bread, no fruit, no veg, but a delightful organic/eco/vegetarian shop which sold an amazing array of dried/tinned foods along with wool.
From Coll we had a lively sail to Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides. It was pretty wild with a nasty swell and I felt horrid most of the way. Having had two weeks of flat calm I had somehow convinced myself I wouldn’t get seasick. How wrong I was! Eriskay is where Bonnie Prince Charlie first made landfall on his way back to Britain. It’s also where the inspiration for Whisky Galore came from as a ship sank here during the second world war and the islanders had a field day recovering the whisky. The pub still has a couple of the original bottles. A pretty island with lovely beaches, azure seas and fabulous wildflowers. From there we spent a night in an anchorage with a very narrow, rocky entrance between Hellisay and Gighay. We crept in very slowly but were rewarded for persevering as there was no one else there when we arrived, apart from a couple of seals. A brisk walk up the hill to check out Barra to the south. We sailed to Barra in a gentle breeze this morning going slowly enough to catch 4 mackerel - and a jelly fish - ugh! Now Nomad is anchored in Vatersay Bay - stunning long sandy beach. We have biked round to Castle Bay on Barra - much further than we thought with far more hills than anticipated! Don’t dare mention the weather cos I would hate to jinx it....
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| Abbey on Iona |
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| V. long legged sheep on Iona & our anchorage |
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| Wild flowers on Eriskay |
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First mackerel of the trip
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| R off Hellisay |
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